Celebrate the Folly and Defeat of Sobriety With Drink Specials

When manhole covers exploded in the thirties, booze flew out of the ground!Photo: Getty Images
When you stop to think about it, the fact that drinking was once illegal in America beggars the mind. Americans! Unable to drink in their own homes! It’s as if Frenchmen were barred from butter or Germans denied meat. Well, that evil period came to an end on December 5, 1933, a fact honored by the informal holiday of Repeal Day, which is being celebrated all over town tomorrow. The good people at Dewars hired actors to dress up in faux old-timey outfits (think tweeds and red carnations) and cheer Repeal Day with signs and slogans to confused tourists in Soho. But we encourage you to demonstrate your commitment to commerce and liberty by drinking for less at several local bars. Be sure to raise a glass to FDR. Somewhere, he’s toasting you back.

What follows is a list of participating bars. Some are classics, some not so much. But they all will have drink specials. And that’s really the spirit of the occasion, isn’tit?